May 13, 2010

Forfeiture ordered in paua poaching case

A Christchurch man has got a 250-hour community work sentence for paua poaching and now faces pressure from the Ministry of Fisheries to say whose boat and scuba gear he was using.

A forfeiture order has been made against James Andrew King, a 61-year-old invalid beneficiary.

It was imposed at his sentencing in the Christchurch District Court by Judge Philip Moran today.

Ministry prosecutor Grant Fletcher said that fisheries inspectors would now give King a directive under the Fisheries Act to reveal the owner of the boat and the underwater breathing apparatus he was seen with.

?If he chooses to disregard that directive, consequences are going to flow from that,? Mr Fletcher told the court.

At a defended hearing, Judge Moran found that the ministry had proved that King had altered a figure on a Maori customary permit allowing him to take paua at Akaroa for a function.

A fisheries officer had spoken to him on his way back up the harbour and told the court he saw about 400 paua on board. He checked the permit and saw it referred to 600 paua, but when he later checked with the official who issued it, he was told that the permit had been for only 60 paua.

The altered permit was not found and King denied three charges, saying that it had not been altered and he had no more than 60 paua on board.

A woman who was on the boat at the time, 55-year-old executive assistant Kay Christina Jenkins, had also denied a charge of being a party to the poaching, but she was also found guilty at the hearing.

Fisheries estimated about 60 to 70kg of paua worth about $3500 would have been taken by King, who is an experienced paua fisherman. He had once claimed a reputation of being the best on the Chatham Islands.

Judge Moran described the offending as a preach of trust.

?This breach of the customary fishing permit really has an adverse effect upon the integrity of the management of the fishing resources by the tangata whenua.?

He said King was not involved in ?flogging off black market paua? but may have been able to make some money from sales at pubs.

He imposed a $500 fine on Jenkins and ordered King to do 250 hours of community work on charges of taking paua without a permit to obtain a benefit, taking more than the daily limit, and having diving gear aboard a boat with paua.

He made the forfeiture order sought by the ministry even though the boat and the diving gear had never been identified or found after the original inspection, when the altered permit became an issue.

King will now be pressured to say whose they were.

Once the owner is identified, they will be able to argue against the forfeiture order.